Just one more seat at the table: Stratford representation review under way

Councillors have confirmed the initial proposal for the representation review.

A new Māori ward for Stratford will mean one extra councillor at the local council table next year. The two current wards, urban and rural, will remain and are set to have the same number of councillors as they do now, with one additional elected member from the newly established Māori ward.

At Tuesday's Council meeting, councillors debated the merits of the urban and rural ward system itself as well as the numbers of councillors in each ward, currently set at four rural and six urban, with the mayor elected at large.

The decision made by Council earlier this year to introduce a Māori ward triggered a representation review, the initial proposal for which councillors decided upon at yesterday's meeting, in order to then send it out to the community for consultation.

In the report councillors received on the subject, written by Tiffany Radich, director corporate services, it was stated the report did not cover the establishment of a Māori ward.

"The decision has already been made that one Māori ward seat will be in place for the 2022 and 2025 local elections."

Councillors were asked to decide if the urban and rural wards were to stay and how many councillors should represent each, if community boards should be added, and the total number of councillors to be elected. These decisions would all be for the next two elections.

Councillor Peter Dalziel spoke in favour of abolishing the rural and urban ward system, in favour of at-large seats, saying he felt that would attract the best candidates.

"I think disestablishing the wards will attract the best candidates across the district. In my time on Council I've not seen or been aware of any strong urban versus rural stance on any debate."

Councillor Min McKay also saw merit in the at-large system, but said she would like to see a system in which there were urban and rural seats retained.

"I think some of our community, maybe in lifestyle blocks or similar, currently don't fit comfortably into either rural or urban so I would like to see a mix of options, with at-large candidates as well as some urban or rural."

The majority of councillors were in favour of keeping the current rural and urban ward system however, with no at-large seats.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," said councillor Rick Coplestone.

He said rural areas needed rural councillors.

"They think totally differently out there. They need some sort of representation. They trust the people they know, and they need those people representing them."

When it came to the number of seats at the table, the majority were in favour of keeping the current number of seats for both rural and urban wards, meaning the total number at the table would increase by just one person, with the new Māori ward seat.

Deputy mayor Alan Jamieson and councillors Min McKay and Peter Dalziel were the only ones to speak in favour of reducing the number of seats at the table.

Councillor Dalziel argued much larger corporations managed on lower numbers when it came to similar roles.

"Look at Air New Zealand or Spark. They have a chair and just six or seven board members reporting back to their shareholders, and really our ratepayers are our shareholders."

Councillor McKay argued that less meant more when it came to accountability.

"Less councillors would mean those of us at the table were held more accountable. It would mean more visibility to those here and more responsibility. I think it would attract stronger candidates."

John Sandford disagreed.

"If you're not accountable now, you're not going to be accountable with less people at the table. That argument doesn't wash with me."

Fewer councillors didn't come with a cost saving to the ratepayers either, he pointed out, saying the total amount for councillor salaries was set by Government and didn't change according to the number of elected members.

"So there is no financial benefit in reducing numbers."

Councillor Amanda Harris was in favour of keeping the current number of councillors, plus the new Māori ward seat,

"I am new, it's been extremely hard work at times, having this amount of councillors means we can support each other."

Mayor Neil Volzke said while he had been in favour in the past of reducing the number of councillors he could "see the other side of the argument", that the district was geographically spread out and the more seats, the greater chance of having strong candidates.

"So I have changed my mind in this, and support the status quo."

The status quo was the favoured option with 8-3 voting in favour of keeping it.

Council's initial proposal as decided by councillors will now go out to the community for submissions. The proposal includes keeping the urban and rural ward system, having six urban councillors and four rural councillors, with the already decided Māori ward seat making a total of 11 councillors plus the mayor. Slight boundary changes for rural and urban wards are also included in the initial proposal.

A full outline of this proposal will be available for the community to make a submission on from Wednesday, August 18. Submissions will close on September 19.

Disclaimer: Editor Ilona Hanne is married to the CEO of Stratford District Council.